In recent years, general interest in 3D video has been increasing. For example, amusement park attractions that incorporate 3D video images are popular. Furthermore, throughout the country, the number of movie theaters showing 3D movies is increasing. Along with this increased interest in 3D video, the development of technology that enables playback of 3D video images in the home has also been progressing. There is demand for this technology to store 3D video content on a portable recording medium, such as an optical disc, while maintaining the 3D video content at high image quality. Furthermore, there is demand for the recording medium to be compatible with a two-dimensional (2D) playback device. That is, it is preferable for a 2D playback device to be able to play back 2D video images and a 3D playback device to be able to play back 3D video images from the same 3D video content recorded on the recording medium. Here, a “2D playback device” refers to a conventional playback device that can only play back monoscopic video images, i.e. 2D video images, whereas a “3D playback device” refers to a playback device that can playback 3D video images. Note that in general a 3D playback device can also play back 2D video images.
FIG. 63 is a schematic diagram illustrating the technology for ensuring the compatibility of an optical disc storing 3D video content with 2D playback devices (see Patent Literature 1). An optical disc 6301 stores two types of AV (Audio Visual) stream files. One of these files is a 2D/left-view stream file, and the other is a right-view stream file. The 2D/left-view stream file contains a 2D/left-view stream. A “2D/left-view stream” represents a 2D video image to be shown to the left eye of a viewer during 3D playback, i.e. a “left-view.” During 2D playback, this stream constitutes the 2D video image. The right-view stream file contains a right-view stream. A “right-view stream” represents a 2D video image to be shown to the right eye of a viewer during 3D playback, i.e. a “right-view.” The left and right video streams have the same frame rate but different presentation times shifted from each other by half a frame period. For example, when the frame rate of each video stream is 24 frames per second, the frames of the left-view and right-view streams are alternately displayed every 1/48 seconds.
As shown in FIG. 63, the left-view and right-view stream files are divided into a plurality of extents 6302A-C and 6303A-C respectively on the optical disc 6301. Each extent contains at least one GOP (group of pictures) which is read together from the optical disc. Hereinafter, the extents belonging to the 2D/left-view stream file are referred to as “left-view extents,” and the extents belonging to the right-view stream file are referred to as “right-view extents.” The left-view extents 6302A-C and the right-view extents 6303A-C are alternately arranged on a track 6301A of the optical disc 6301. Each two adjacent extents 6302A-6303A, 6302B-6303B and 6302C-6303C have the same length of playback time. Such an arrangement of extents is referred to as an interleaved arrangement. Groups of extents recorded in an interleaved arrangement on a recording medium are used both in 3D video playback and 2D video image playback, as described below.
From among the extents recorded on the optical disc 6301, a 2D playback device 6304 causes an optical disc drive 6304A to read only the left-view extents 6302A-C sequentially from the start, skipping the reading of right-view extents 6303A-C. Furthermore, an image decoder 6304B sequentially decodes the extents read by the optical disc drive 6304A into a left-view frame 6306L. In this way, a display device 6307 only displays left-views, and viewers can watch normal 2D video images.
A 3D playback device 6305 causes a 3D optical disc drive 6305A to alternately read left-view extents and right-view extents from the optical disc 6301. Expressed as codes, the extents are read in the order 6302A, 6303A, 6302B, 6303B, 6302C, and 6303C. Furthermore, from among the read extents, those belonging to the 2D/left-view stream are supplied to a left video decoder 6305L, whereas those belonging to the right-view stream are supplied to a right-video decoder 6305R. The video decoders 6305L and 6305R alternately decode each video stream into video frames 6306L and 6306R, respectively. As a result, left-views and right-views are alternately displayed on a display device 6308. In synchronization with the switching of the views by the display device 6308, shutter glasses 6309 cause the left and right lenses to become opaque alternately. Therefore, a viewer wearing the shutter glasses 6309 sees the views displayed by the display device 6308 as 3D video images.
When 3D video content is stored on any recording medium, not only on an optical disc, the above-described interleaved arrangement of extents is used. In this way, the recording medium can be used both for playback of 2D video images and 3D video images.